Machine for intrusively punching



Jan. 10, 1939. F. J; CHANDLER I ,5

MACHINE FOR- INTRUSIVELY PUNCHING I Filed June 8, 1956 INVENTOR fr /14 Jar/mm 6/20/7070 ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 10, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Frank Jermain Chandler, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to The Perfotex Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application June 8, 1936, Serial No. 84,024

1 Claim.

This invention relates to machines or apparatus for perforating materials, but more particularly to machines for and methods of intrusively perforating relatively thick and tough materials, such as rubber coated textile fabrics or other similar composite materials.

Heretofore, machines and apparatus have been devised for intrusively perforating composite materials including rubber or rubber like material, but they have not proved entirely satisfactory because they are not adapted to perforate relatively thick materials of this nature expeditiously and economically on a production basis and to provide sufficient and adequate perforations of a minute nature to impart the breathing characteristic so necessary and desirable in materials used for shoes, clothing, corsets, etc.

It is a desideratum to produce a simple and efiicient method of and machine for perforating a relatively large amount of material of this nature in a comparatively short time and to position and arrange the perforations closely together in an irregular, non-mechanical appearing manner, to resemble or simulate as closely as possible the pores of the skin.

An object of this invention is to produce a new and improved method for accomplishing the above and a simple and efficient machine for carrying out such method.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear and, for purposes of illustration, embodiments of the invention are shown on the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly diagrammatical, of a machine for perforating materials in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation substantially on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, illustrating the manner in which the material is fed and showing diagrammatically the perforating units, stripper plate and base block or die;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section of the perforating units, showing the material in process of perforation;

Figure 4 is a plan view, partly schematic, of a portion of the needle-supporting platen, showing the arrangement of the needles or perforating units;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the material after being perforated, showing the irregular, non-mechanical appearing arrangement or pattern of the minute perforations; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged diagrammatic view showing the manner in which positioning of the needles in the various zones is determined.

The illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises a press It, the general construction of which is old in the art. The press is provided with a frame I I having a vertically reciprocatory head i2 actuated by connecting rods l2a driven from a suitable crankshaft on one end of which is mounted a driving wheel I2b. Disposed below the recipro'catory head I2 is a stationary bed I3.

As shown, material M is introduced or delivered to the machine between a pair of 0pposed rollers l4 and is advanced beneath the perforating mechanism to the rollers 15 which are arranged on the opposite side of the machine. The material M to be perforated is relatively thick and tough, such for example as a composite material having a layer of woven textile fabric to which is adhesively secured a layer of rubber, rubber composition, rubber substitute or the like. It is not intended that this invention be restricted to any particular flexible sheet material, but the above will illustrate the character of the material which the machine is particularly adapted to handle.

The rollers Hi and [5 or either pair of them, frictionally engage with the material M and are intermittently driven in order to impart a step by step movement to the material. Any well known mechanism may. be employed for effecting such intermittent or step by step movement. For example, a well-known ratchet and pawl mechanism may be employed and, as shown, a spring pressed pawl I50; carried by a rod l5b secured to the head I2 of the press is engageable when the headmoves upwardly, with a ratchet wheel l'5c secured to the upper roll 15 so that each time the head moves upwardly the roll I5 is driven a predetermined extent for advancing the material the desired distance. Preferably the material M should be advanced each time a distance of the order of that designated by the letter K for a purpose which will hereinafter be explained.

A perforating unit generally indicated by the numeral 25is attached in any suitable manner to the head l2 of the press and upon each downward movement of the head I2, the material is perforated and after perforation is accomplished the roller arrangement l4 and I5 impart the movement to the material M a distance substantially equal to the distance X.

The perforating unit 25 is composed of an intrusive needle holding platen 26 on which are disposed a great number of intrusive points or needles 21, a portion of which are rigidly fixed to the platen or holding member 26. The points or needles 27 extend through and beyond holes 29 in a stripper plate 28. The holes 29 are disposed respectively in registry with the points or needles 21. The stripper plate operates to strip the material M from the needles 2! when the latter are withdrawn from engagement with the material. Any suitable means may be employed for accomplishing this purpose, springs or cams being suitable, but since this mechanism forms no part of the present invention, detailed description is not considered necessary.

Mounted on the stationary bed 13 of the press is a die or support 29a provided with holes 30, one being provided for each of the needles 21 in alignment therewith so that after the needles have been forced through the material M, as indicated in Figure 3, the same may extend into the openings 30.

To afford adequate support for the material M during the perforation thereof, a partition or wall 3i of substantial thickness is formed in the die 29a between the openings 30. The openings 30 must be somewhat larger than the needles 21 to provide a certain amount of play and to insure that the points will not be broken by coming in contact with a wall of the die. Since the size of the openings 39 must be ample and since there must be a substantial support for the material during the perforation, the spacing of the needles 2'! is limited to a degree that insufficient porosity in the material would be secured at one perforating. Consequently it is necessary to compound or increase the number of perforations. For this purpose the needlesupporting platen 26 is divided theoretically into several longitudinal divisions or zones as indicated by the reference characters 11 y and 212, each zone extending the full length of the platen 25. The width of each of the zones y, y and 1 equals the material travel X above described.

In operation it will be understood that the needles in the three zones simultaneously perforate the material intrusively while the material is at rest. The material is then advanced by the rollers a distance substantially equal to the distance X, indicated on Figure 2, after the head I2 of the press has first retracted. When the head again lowers the portions of the material previously perforated by the zones 1/ and 1/ are then perforated respectively by the zones y and y. In the next perforating operation the section of the material which had been previously perforated by the zones 1/ and y successively is then perforated by the zone y. This compounding of perforations is of importance in that it increases the number of minute porelike holes in the material to impart the desired breathing characteristic.

One feature of particular advantage is in the irregular arrangement of the needles 21 in the zones 1 21' and 'J-*. For example, the needles in the zone 1/ are so arranged as to cause perforation in irregular interspersion withvthe needles in the zone y. This is also true with respect to the needles in the zone 1 as compared with those in the zone y as well as the needles in the zone 2J2 compared with the zone y. It is important that the points in each of the zones 3 y and 11 should 'intersperse irregularly with each other and as a consequence the material will be irregularly perforated in a non-mechanical appearing pattern, such as indicated in Figure 5. The fabric after being perforated in this manner not only has the desired breathing property so that it is admirably adapted for wearing apparel, but the arrangement is such as to embellish the material in such a manner as to simulate the pores of the skin, a feature which is most desirable from a commercial standpoint.

The manner in which the needles 2'! are positioned for the various zones 1 y and 1/ is diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 6. D designates an enlarged section of the material which has already been perforated, possibly containing a certain pattern which it is desired to reproduce in accordance with the method hereinbefore described. The perforations on the section D may be very numerous and it may be desirable to photographically enlarge that section in order to render the perforations more easily discernible. As above mentioned, the distance between the needles 2! in the platen 26 is limited and in working out a plan for the arrangement of the needles, the permissible distance between them must be taken into consideration. This distance is measured and that measurement used as the diameter of a circle, as indicated at 32. Then, by a compass or other suitable tool all adjacent perforations are encircled, care being taken to insure that the circles 32 of one zone do not overlap each other.

For example, the full line circles a shown on Figure 6 represent the positioning of the needles with respect to the zone the broken line circles b represent the positioning of the needles for the zone 1/ and the dotted line circles represent the positioning of the needles for the zone 1 By planning a small section in this manner a large area can be worked out by duplicating the arrangement of the needles thus indicated.

One manner of completing the .work would be by punching holes through a sheet of this character of the desired size on to a sheet of paper provided for each particular zone. Guided by that diagram the holes can be readily drilled in the platen 25 to hold the needles in a corresponding manner. It is to be understood that the number of zones is governed by the degree of porosity desired in the finished product so that considerably more than three zones may be employed if a very porous material is desired, but ordinarily the number would not be less than three.

It is to be understood that numerous changes in details of construction, arrangement and operation may be effected without departing from the spirit of the invention, especialy as defined in the following claim.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Machine for intrusively perforating relatively thick and tough materials, such as rubber coated textile fabrics, which comprises a perforating device having a plurality of equal zones of perforating needles, the needles in each zone being arranged in a predetermined irregular manner and the needles in one zone being arranged differently from those in the next succeeding zone, means for pressing said perforating device recurrently against the material for perforating same, and means to intermittently advance the material between perforating steps a distance substantially equal to one dimension of a zone, thereby to intersperse perforations in the material in a predetermined irregular manner.

FRANK JERMAIN CHANDLER. 

